Ian flies the world

Melbourne? But I thought we were going to Bangkok!

21 March 1991 Air New Zealand 127 Auckland to Melbourne,
Business
21 March 1991 Thai International 484 Melbourne to Bangkok,
Business

While in Auckland the first time, one thing I had done was
to reconfirm our flight from Auckland to Bangkok with Thai
International. At any rate, that had been the plan. While I was
on the telephone to the Thai office, their computer system
collapsed, so the agent took my details, and promised to call
back. She never did. All the same, we assumed that everything
was in order, and went off to look at a couple of the sights of
Auckland, including Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. This is a
large underground aquarium where you see the fish swimming
overhead. Description of the concept is not too easy, but the
place itself is great fun. My wife and son had been there
earlier in the week when I had been ill, but we all went to look
at it this time.

Unfortunately, we missed the United Airlines tour bus back
to town, so we took a service bus instead. While walking round a
shopping arcade, I noticed an Air New Zealand office, so on a
whim I called in to make sure all was well for our flight to
Bangkok. I discovered that it had been cancelled. The Air New
Zealand staff investigated other possibilities for us, and found
that the most likely option was to get to the airport quickly,
and attempt to catch a Continental Airlines flight to Sydney,
connecting with a Qantas flight to Bangkok. So we went straight
back to the hotel, collected our bags, and caught a taxi to the
airport.

Chaos was the order of the day at the Continental desk. We
were not, of course, the only people who had been offered this
routing opportunity, and so we were many milling around the
desk. Various Continental staff expressed doubt at getting us on
the flight in Business Class, or at all, or said that the only
problem would be loading meals on the flight for us. None of
this greatly concerned us. Anyway, we could not use the tickets
we had without them being reissued for the new itinerary. As
they were on Air New Zealand ticket forms, we had to go to the
Air New Zealand desk for reissue. On arrival there, having left
my wife and son by the Continental desk, their staff suggested
another route: Air New Zealand to Melbourne and Thai
International to Bangkok. Although these are undoubtedly better
carriers, they would not be new to us, but still, that was the
route we would take. Air New Zealand seemed unconcerned by any
inconvenience which Continental might now incur. Our tickets
were changed, our boarding passes issued to Melbourne, and our
baggage checked to Bangkok.

It was now something of a race: the Air New Zealand flight
was leaving in only a few minutes. We still had to clear
immigration, which involved filling in a short form,
nevertheless inconvenient, and going to a bank to pay departure
tax. We managed it, and were able to get to the departure area
just as we were being paged. I have never been paged over the
public address system before, and have always thought of people
who are called for a flight by name as being sloppy and
unprofessional. I now know that this is not necessarily true.

My only regret at all this was that we would not get a
chance to look at the Club Pacific lounge at Auckland. It is
said to be one of the best airline lounges in the world. I
couldn't say, because we were in such a rush that we didn't have
a chance to see it. We didn't get to see the duty-free shops
either, which was a pity because this was one place we had hoped
to buy some things as gifts for the friends we would be staying
with when we got back home.

On board the flight, the usual champagne was offered, but
I chose juice in preference this time. Our family seats were not
together: I formed the distinct impression that we were lucky to
have seats at all. There was one pleasant surprise, however.
This was one of Air New Zealand's 747-200 aircraft, which have
recently been refurbished. One effect is that now, the Business
Class cabin is in Section A, at the very front of the airliner.
The most exciting feature is that during flight, this section is
almost completely silent. No wonder this is where First Class is
usually found.

Incidentally, it was unusual for this flight to be run by
a 747 at all. Normally, a 767 ran the route, but as there was
not a convenient 767 available, this 747 which had apparently
just arrived back from Tokyo was used instead. Just as well, I
feel, for if it hadn't been, we probably wouldn't have been
found seats on it at all. However, I do want to know who they
put in First Class, since Air New Zealand's 767 fleet only
offers business and economy. Now, however, the excitement has
gone, for Air New Zealand now run 747s on this route most of the
time. The service now advertises First Class too.

Even so, the meal service was good, and the video
entertainment provided some very good material. At one point,
while the meal was being served, the face of Rowan Atkinson
appeared on the screen in the guise of Mr. Bean. Soon, the whole
of the cabin was in uproar at the images on the screen. The
passenger next to me said he believed that this had been the
most widely watched programme on New Zealand television the
previous year, being the second of two similar programmes
broadcast a week apart. Those who had seen the first part, he
said, told their friends not to miss the second part while
taking care to see it themselves. Its major advantage in-flight
is that it is largely visual in its appeal, and so can capture
the interest of those many passengers who do not wear headphones
on flights.

Soon, it was time to land at Melbourne, a huge, sprawling
city as seen from the air. Just before landing, the attendants
came through the cabin handing out Australian immigration
documents. Should we fill them in? I asked the cabin staff,
pointing out that we did not have Australian visas. They
suggested we should fill them in anyway, in case we were
delayed. This did not inspire confidence.

On arrival, we followed the transit arrows, and came to a
desk which had one terminal and one officer. We found him, and
so did thirty-four other passengers in the same position as us.
They couldn't cope with that, so we were left hanging around for
a few minutes. Eventually, we were dispatched to the Qantas
lounge to await events and boarding passes. Out of the window,
we could see a large Thai International 747, presumably due to
set off soon for Bangkok. Soon, things were sorted out, though
in fairness not really to a level that would suit most seasoned
travellers.

We set off for the airliner, boarded, and were welcomed
aboard in the usual manner. However, there was something not
entirely attractive about the decor. The interior of the cabin
was decidedly gloomy, and this impression was not improved by
the layout. On our left were windows, but on the right, a large
partition, as the Business Class section in this part of the
airliner did not stretch across the whole width of the cabin.

There was a long flight ahead of us, and I really don't
remember much about it. Presumably, we ate and slept, drank and
watched videos. One cartoon I found amusing was about a baby
which kept on frightening a mechanical toy. This is the sort of
thing that sticks in the memory, even though it is completely
pointless.

I don't thank Thai International for furnishing us with
bowls of peanuts. They look attractive to infants, but are
potentially fatal because they can cause young children to
choke. So I was obliged to eat two bowls as soon as they
arrived. This wouldn't have been too bad if they had been fresh.

Thai International has undoubtedly one of the best
reputations in the world. I am sorry to say that although they
were adequate, I would not put them in that league.

After arrival in Bangkok, immigration ran smoothly. Then,
it was the general melee of an international arrivals hall.
Apart from the fact that we had no local currency and were about
to be ripped off by an official tour operator, all was well.

I was able to collect money as a cash advance against a
VISA credit card. VISA cash advances are very useful in
countries where this is possible. Generally they are more
convenient than travellers cheques, and cost about the same.

I waited, hoping that a card I hadn't used for about
eighteen months would be honoured, used for the first time to
advance about two hundred pounds equivalent. Thankfully, there
was no problem. Incidentally, I am intrigued by the policy of a
credit card company which does not bat an eyelid when a
previously inactive card registered to a Birmingham address is
used completely out of the blue to gain a cash advance in
Bangkok, but sees fit to detain me in a store just outside
Liverpool where I am buying GBP 25 worth of records and tapes
for about twenty minutes, simply because the card has been used
several times in that town but is registered in Birmingham. Such
are the mysteries of banks. Yet I digress, for at this point we
are still in Bangkok.

After reserving and paying for a tour for the following
afternoon, we set off for the Asia Hotel, a very large building
in central Bangkok. It has good rooms and services, and many
shops and arcades too. However, I understand that this is just
one of very many good hotels in Bangkok. Again, we were very
tired after a long flight. All we had were hot drinks before
retiring for the night.

Over the next couple of days, we did what tourists often
do in Bangkok: we took a temples tour, seeing the solid gold
Golden Buddha and the immense Reclining Buddha. We also visited
the Rose Garden out of town, where we saw a demonstration of
working elephants and a show depicting Thai culture.

I wasn't very taken with Thailand. More precisely, I
wasn't taken with Bangkok, because really that was all we saw.
Bangkok is a large, dirty city, superficially very like Mexico
City. However, I liked Mexico City; I didn't like Bangkok.